Awards to Celebrate Social Engagement Among NBA Players, Teams and Fans This Season

Fan Voting Begins Today, June 6

NBA TV announced today the first-ever NBA Social Media Awards - celebrating NBA players, teams and fans for their social engagement throughout the 2011-12 NBA regular season - will be televised Wednesday, June 20, at 9 p.m. ET. Three-time NBA World Champion Rick Fox (@RickaFox) will host the show, joined by TNT and NBA TV analyst and social media guru Shaquille O'Neal (@SHAQ) and SLAM magazine's social maven Lang Whitaker (@Langwhitaker), along with contributions from The Basketball Jones' JE Skeets (@jeskeets) and Tas Melas (@tasmelas). The show will recognize some of the best moments from the 2011-12 NBA regular season which resonated with fans and generated the most social engagement.

The NBA Social Media Awards will be divided into various categories recognizing social activity across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and more. Sample categories include:

· The BIG (Best In the Game) Award - for the player that best utilizes social media across platforms.

· The LOL (Laugh out Loud) Award - for the team/players who had the most shared/liked blooper video during the regular season.

· The Social SLAM Award - for the favorite dunk during regular season voted on by the fans.

· The FanNation Award - for the team with the highest percentage increase across all platforms.

Fans can vote today, June 6, through June 18 for their favorite moments from the season by visiting nba.com/sma. Voting will also be available via Facebook and the mobile website. The winners will be announced during the broadcast. Additionally, voting for The Social Slam Award will remain open during the show with the winner announced live.

"The NBA Social Media Awards was developed as a fun way to recognize our fans, players and teams which have contributed to the league's leadership position in the social space," said Christina Miller, SVP and GM, NBA Digital. "The NBA is consistently at the forefront of innovation and this show will capture the passion and influence the entire NBA community demonstrates across a wide array of social media platforms."

"Our fans have created a global community through social media where they can engage directly with other fans, hundreds of players, and all of our teams," said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. "The NBA Social Media Awards are a great way to celebrate their passion for the game and recognize some of the best moments throughout the season."

The NBA continues to be a leader in embracing social media with the official NBA league, team and player pages accumulating more than 277 million followers and likes across Twitter and Facebook, more than any other professional sports league.

NBA Digital is the NBA's extensive cross-platform portfolio of digital assets jointly managed by the NBA and Turner Sports which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA LEAGUE PASS Broadband, NBA Mobile, NBADLEAGUE.com, and WNBA.com.